page_title: History of printing
section_title: Stencil
hierarchical_section_title: History of printing / Stencil
caption_attribution_description: English: Hands at the Cuevas de las Manos upon Río Pinturas, near the town of Perito Moreno in Santa Cruz Province, Argentina. Picture taken by me in 2005. Español: Impresiones en la Cuevas de las Manos sobre el Río Pinturas en la provincia de Santa Cruz, Argentina. Foto tomada por mí en 2005. Italiano: Impressioni di mani nella Cuevas de las Manos sul Río Pinturas fiume vicino al popolo di Perito Moreno nella provincia di Santa Cruz, Argentina. Fotografia presa da me nel 2005. Slovenščina: Odtis rok v Cueva de las Manos jami ob reki Río Pinturas, blizu Perito Moreno vasi v Santa Cruz provinci, Argentina. Poslikal sem fotografijo leta 2005. Hrvatski: Otisci ruku u spilji Cueva de las Manos uz rijeku Río Pinturas blizu grada Perito Moreno, pokrajina Santa Cruz, Argentina. Snimio sam fotografiju 2005. godine. Српски / srpski: Утисак рука у Куева де лас Манос јами уз реке Рио Пинтурас близу града Перито Морено, Санта Цруз Провинциа, Аргентина. Посликао сам фотографију године 2005. Svenska: Handavtryck vid Cuevas de las Manos på Río Pinturas, nära staden Perito Moreno i Santa Cruz-Provinsen, Argentina. Bild tagen av mig 2005.
context_page_description: The history of printing arguably starts in Mesopotamia as early as the 4th millennium BC, when clay tokens were used to record specific amounts of livestock or commodities. These tokens were initially impressed on the surface of round clay envelopes and then stored in them, and eventually evolved into early writing. Other early forms include block seals, Hammered coinage, pottery imprints, and cloth printing. Woodblock printing on paper originated in China around 200 AD. It led to the development of movable type in the eleventh century and the spread of book production in East Asia. Woodblock printing was also used in Europe, but it was in the fifteenth century that European printers developed a process for mass-producing metal type to support an economical book publishing industry. This industry enabled the communication of ideas and sharing of knowledge on an unprecedented scale. Alongside the development of text printing, new and lower-cost methods of image reproduction were developed, including lithography, screen printing and photocopying.
context_section_description: Hand stencils, made by blowing pigment over a hand held against a wall, have been found in Asia and Europe dating from over 35,000 years ago, and later prehistoric dates in other continents. After that stencilling has been used as a historic painting technique on all kinds of materials. 
  Stencils may have been used to colour cloth for a very long time; the technique probably reached its peak of sophistication in Katazome and other techniques used on silks for clothes during the Edo period in Japan.  In Europe, from about 1450 AD they were commonly used to colour old master prints printed in black and white, usually woodcuts.  This was especially the case with playing-cards, which continued to be coloured by stencil long after most other subjects for prints were left in black and white. Stencils were used for mass publications, as the type did not have to be hand-written.
caption: Hands at the Cuevas de las Manos upon Río Pinturas, near the town of Perito Moreno in Santa Cruz Province, Argentina.
exif: {}